When Bob Lutz launched the new-ish Chevrolet Tahoe, GM's Car Czar claimed the SUV and its platform partners would sell to a core group of customers who need (or at least desperately want) the size, power and towing abilities of a traditional American truck. At the same time, Lutz acknowledged that overall SUV's sales were shrinking. Unfortunately, the press neglected to explore the corollary: GM's ability to maintain SUV profits depends on conquest sales from existing owners. Never mind the Dai-san (Toyota, Honda, Nissan) or the "Crisis" Corporation. There's only one way GM can generate life-sustaining lift from this profit-rich segment: hit the weak man. Ford is Job One.

In fact, GM and Ford are locked in a Detroit Death Match. Both companies' finances are in tatters. Their market shares are shrinking. Layoffs and closings are spreading throughout their respective empires. A Delphi strike threatens to shutter their assembly lines. Impossible pension and health care costs are eating into profits. They pay thousands of workers not to work. The unions can't or won't play ball. There's not enough money to invest in new products. Their dealer networks are bloated. Ailing brands are dragging them down, but they can't afford to cut the deadwood. It's like the old joke about the man fleeing a bear who nearly trips over his companion, who's putting on a pair of running shoes. "Are you crazy?" he yells. "You can't outrun a bear!" "I don't have to outrun the bear," his former friend replies. "I just have to outrun you."

Once upon a time, wealthy people didn't just pop down to their local Ferrari dealer, pick-up an Enzo and ask for their change in F430's. They commissioned a coachbuilder to add bespoke sheetmetal, fixtures and fittings to a suitable manufacturer's underpinnings. This trend created some wild ass whips, usually ascribed to the builder who provided the greasy bits. Not only is ex-BMW, ex-Ford designer Henrik Fisker determined to resurrect the whole coachbuilding thing, but the man wants name brand recognition. Well, fair enough. But would you buy a reskinned Merc or Bimmer for north of $300k? Answers on an email please. Or wait for part two, tomorrow.

When Maserati PR offered TTAC a Georgia junket to thrash some of its models on road and track, we checked our policy (full disclosure and we're good to go) and sent the freshly-trained Jonny Lieberman to do the honors. Our man was suitably impressed by the Masers' improved ride and handling. But he saved his ultimate kudos for the Audemars Piguet Millenary MC12 Tourbillon. As well he might, considering the price…

TTAC writer Terry Parkhurst suggested I give Mitch Silver of Silver Collector Car Auctions a call. Mitch's mob aren't the biggest of the big, but they've developed a sterling reputation for friendliness, honesty and expertise. Silver's signature event: the Reno-based Hot August Nights. With over 800 pre-'72 cars up for grabs, Mitch counsels buyers to think of car collecting as a hobby (not an investment) and do NOT get in a pissing match.

Rabid Rick Wagoner lacks self-esteem. Why else would GM's CEO submit himself to triple presidential humiliation? First, Bush tells GM to take a hike– even before Rick shows-up with his begging bowl. Then, despite the slight, the head of the world's largest automaker sets-up a meet with the Commander-in-Chief (presumably to engage in a vigorous debate about the definition of a "relevant" vehicle). Then Bush cancels the meeting. George heads for the border; Rick detours to Congress to promote corn juice– and reschedules the presidential pow-wow for June. To do what? How long does it take RR to take a hint?

The funny (peculiar) thing is that every time I run out of ways to make the case that GM's [lack of] leadership assures its oblivion, the company throws me a bone. On Wednesday, GM shit-canned– sorry, accepted the resignations of– Controller Paul Schmidt and Chief Accounting Officer Peter Bible. Given GM's recent decision to restate its earnings for the last FIVE YEARS; given the on-going Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into GM's payments to its suppliers, its purchases of precious metals (of all things) and a New York Grand Jury alone knows what else; you'd think the double golden parachute exhibition was enough craven media manipulation for one day. But no, GM went and hired Jay Alix.

openairtours.com has a second-by-second counter marking down the moments until the next time 200 convertibles hit the road in Wisconsin. TTAC respects that kind of auto-oriented OCD. We also wish Gary Knowles' posse a speedy passage through the dairy farming portion of their travels.

All I remember about my driver's ed class was a film (remember film?) about a nerdy mid-Westerner who performed all these ridiculous pre-flight checks ('Lights working Dad!') and still managed to kill himself and his entire family by overtaking a slow moving truck straight into an even larger truck. These days, it's the 'Red Asphalt' series, and it's all online. Makes sense to me, and Gary Tsfirin of driversed.com.

TTAC receives a great deal of excrutiatingly boring PR copy on a daily basis. When I caught sight of this sexy PR prose poem, I had to know more: 'The purely mechanical device, made up of four chambers, attaches directly in front of the throttle body. A movable flap senses pulsations generated when the engine vibrates due to acceleration. As the flap moves, via a spring-mass system, it changes the high-frequency whistle of the turbocharger to the more muscular tone that is the natural byproduct of the combustion process.'

Ray Wert is a member in good standing of the so-called 'Swedish Mafia': the new breed of internet-based automotive journalists who write what they think and let the chips fall where they may. In other words, Ray's a TTAC kinda guy. We're pleased that he's joined us on the GM Death Watch, bringing his keen understanding of high finance to bear on The General's orchestral maneuvers in the dark. Given the fireworks to come, I reckon we'll be seeing more of his piercing glimpses into the not-so-obvious.

In the run-up to our June re-launch, The Truth About Cars is proud to present a new feature: the TTAC Daily Podcast. The 10-minute recordings will feature interviews with our correspondents, industry folk and enthusiasts. If you have a product, service or event to promote; or an axe to grind, contact me via email to arrange a call. We'll have more news on the new site soon…

I've never run a multi-billion dollar multi-national car company. But I've driven hundreds of cars, and every car I drive tells me everything I need to know about the company that builds it. Literally. What do I need to know about GM's product development process that I can't glean from the Solstice's fiddly roof? What can Daimler-Chrysler's flackmeisters tell me about the company's strategy that I can't appreciate by hammering an SRT-8? What does BMW have to say that their X3 doesn't? And how can I be expected to take Ford's "Bold Moves" campaign seriously after driving a Ford 500?

Someone forgot to tell Billy Ford that everything– sales, service, marketing, the money in his pocket– starts with product. First you build cars, trucks and SUV's that do one thing better than anyone else, THEN you market them according to their unique selling point. If you want to sell ultimate driving, start by making damn sure all your vehicles ride and handle better than anything else in their segment (Boxster-beater my eye). If you're selling safety, begin by building cars that get five stars in all crash categories (S40 four-star rollover rating my toches). If you're starting an American revolution, it's probably best to sell cars built in America. And if you want to be known as bold…

My automotive odyssey began in a Ford Pinto. I didn't need Ralph Nader to tell me that The Blue Oval's first sub-compact was a death trap. The Pinto was so nasty on so many levels I'm surprised it didn't spontaneously combust in shame. Then again, why would it? Ford had no shame. Like the rest of the Big Three, their greed, arrogance and incompetence handed the small car market to the Japanese. As far as I can tell, nothing much has changed in the last 35 years. Once again, gas prices are squeezing cash-strapped motorists. Once again, domestics don't have a compelling answer. And once again, Toyota does: the Toyota Yaris.

Do without any optional frills (power windows, remote keyless, a radio) and an autobox Yaris Liftback will set you back about twelve large. If the repo man has never darkened your drive and you have a grand to put down (or are willing to also do your own shifting), payments are within spitting distance of $200. That's to own the car, not a lease with a phone book's worth of fine print. And not just any car, but a brand spankin' new, made-in-Japan, everyone's-sister-knows-it'll-never-break Toyota. A Hummer driver spends twice as much just to keep the tank topped off. Speaking of which, you get over 35 mpg in a Yaris, with a three-year bumper-to-bumper hakuna mutata.

Now that General Motors is poised on the brink of disaster, the smallest setback could send the The General sliding into bankruptcy. What will be the straw that breaks The General's back? Most of the world has focused their attention on New York federal bankruptcy court. They're waiting to see if Judge Robert Drain voids bankrupt parts supplier Delphi's union contracts, and what effect that will have on GM. After all, there's so much to think about…

Will the United Auto Workers (UAW) react to the judge's ruling with an immediate strike at Delphi, starving GM of vital parts and driving The General into Chapter 11? Or is UAW boss Big Ron Gettelfinger secretly scheming to use the judge's decision to scare his members into accepting an otherwise unpalatable 15th hour compromise? Does Big Ron still have enough juice to make it so, given that he's up for reelection in June? Will a more radical union leader emerge and convince members of the rank and file to stage wildcat strikes? Will the larger number of Delphi retirees overrule their hotheaded "active" brothers and sisters to save their health care and pension payments?

Before you can buy a firearm in Rhode Island, you have to finish a gun safety course. My instruction consisted of a pot-bellied ex-State Trooper telling war stories about ballistic incidents and accidents. It was a strangely effective education. Not only did I learn that you shouldn't shoot a crack addict with a .22 ('It just makes 'em mad'), but I also had Rule Number One drummed into my brain: if you draw your gun, use it. Which is why I'm sure that The United Auto Workers (UAW) is about to bring GM down.

On Thursday, UAW Vice President Richard Shoemaker told all locals unions covering bankrupt GM parts supplier Delphi to conduct strike authorization ballots by 14 May. The chances of the vote going against the union's request are about the same as Zimbabwe's electorate voting out Robert Mugabe. In other words, 24,000 union workers are about to chamber a round in their Delphi destroyer. The first bullet was loaded by 8500 members of The International Union of Electrical and Communications Workers, who authorized a Delphi strike back in February. The next four rounds will come from the United Steelworkers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the International Union of Operating Engineers.

What's worse than farce? Political correctness. When farce ends, people look around and say, "Wow! That was stupid." With political correctness, the stupidity never ends. It moves from stupid to bizarre to delusional to dangerous to destructive. Yesterday, the Attorneys General of California, New York, New Jersey, Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont filed a joint suit against the federal government, trying to increase CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) light truck standards. By doing so, they placed the entire fuel economy debate on the far side of the PC arc. First the science…

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sets, monitors and enforces CAFE legislation. The agency does NOT, however, calculate the fuel economy figures. That job falls to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA makes its determinations by measuring the amount of carbon dioxide coming out of a vehicle's tailpipe. (The higher a vehicle's fuel economy, the less CO2 it expels.) The federal government does not classify carbon dioxide a pollutant. Environmentalists do. They consider CO2 a planet-warming "greenhouse gas." Now, the politics…